Mike,

I can only think of the "rich and famous" that run their entire home from doors to gates to lights and all from a computer and their cell phone or whatever.

I'll call my technichian for you, how's that? This kid could build a computer to scratch your back for you in Portugal.

Dax

Sometimes you gotta wonder what's more fun... playing in the dirt, or monitoring the stuff from afar.

I've never done a greenhouse cam before so it's quite interesting.

I will say that the webcams I've tested so far can't handle 10,000 foot candles of light very well. So I have a Fuji 601Z on it's way here. That should make things really interesting.

Meanwhile, the wife has promised to hardwire a flashlight to the 110v house circuit, so we'll be able to watch the temperature all night. :-) (The LED flashlight that's out there right now won't make if for long. :-(

Mike...

>>I've yet to figure out how to know if the exhaust fan is running or the roof vent is open.

For the exhaust fan, you can talk to someone who is good with electrical stuff have them show you how to piggyback an LED line to the automatic thermostat. The idea is that if the thermostat turns the fan on, it turns the LED on too. you can then install that LED somewhere that is in view of the camera so that you can see if the exhaust fan is on or not.

For the roof vents, you can install contact plates on the top and bottom of the vent frame, and then build an electrical circuit with a power supply and an LED. The idea here is that if the vent is closed, the contact plates will touch each other and close the circuit and turn the LED on. When the vent opens, the circuit breaks and the LED turns of.
Just make sure you use a very low voltage equipment on this set up, or you risk creating an electrified GH. Especially if you are using a HFGH (aluminum frame).
You can get creative and use a relay switch to reverse the LED operation.(LED turns on when the vents are open.)

Another option would be to install two more webcams. One pointed at the exhaust fan, and the other pointed at the roof vent :)

Nice set up. I plan on doing something similar. I am going to use a PIC micro chip to monitor and control stuff like the fan etc. I'm interested in what kind of computer if any you have in there? Or are you sending the video wirelessly to the house? I'm concerned about high humidity. I am going to run cat5 cable to my greenhouse when I run gas water and electric.

Glad you're having fun with it Mike; I must admit tho that the topic struck me as kinda funny--"what's next a webcam for watching grass grow (or paint dry)?" ;) But I know what you're trying to do.

Being the geeky sort myself, we have a remote transmitter for our weather station out in our GH, so the weather station alarms on low or high temperatures out there. You should consider the same--a weather station with PC link--you could then have your computer email you if your conditions get out-of-whack. We have an Oregon Scientific WMR968 and it's very cool indeed.

BTW I can't tell from your pics--what material did you use to insulate your north walls & roof?

The vertical walls are insulated with white beadboard. the roof is Extruded Polystyrene which was painted white on the inside. (it's what I happened to have laying around!)

I am considering the WS 3510.

Do you have a digital camera? Can you take a couple pictures of your setup, your WMR968 and your PC screen. Does your weatherstation measure light or UV?

I'm considering sticking a yardstick in there so I can watch the plants grow! LOL.

Mike...

Nortonbk,

The computer is sitting in the guestroom, and I ran a USB cable thru the window out to the greenhouse. IÂll be taking more pictures of the setup this week and posting it on the Greenhouse Photo Page (link below)

Can you tell me more about this micro chip you plan on using in your greenhouse.

MikeÂ

Here is a link that might be useful: Greenhouse Photo Page

Wow te peppers seem to grow alot just in that one day!

John

Mikeschn

You can look at a microchip as a bunch of switches. You can connect a microchip to a digital thermometer to monitor temp and send it to your computer. You can set limits to alert you to high or low temps and keep a log of daily temps. You can connect some of the switches to turn on a fan at a certain temp or open a motorized vent.
IÂm going to write a simple visual basic program to do the above and send the info to my computer and upload the info to a website. Once I am done I will post my setup. I just bought a house before Christmas and after I get finished building my greenhouse I have several other project so it will probably be closer to next winter. Here is the microchip I am going to use. It is already programed to do all this stuff so it makes it easy to get into this area of interest.
Hope this helps,
Brian

Here is a link that might be useful: Microchip link

Dax,

I didn't realize you were giving up on Conifers and selling your greenhouse. At least that what I assumed when I saw you greenhouse on Ebay...

Ebay Item # 270106647012

Mike...

Based on this PDF (see below) I decided to monitor the soil temp also...

In my webcam, the top reading is the air temp, and the bottom reading is the soil temp. :-)

Mike...

P.S. I am looking for a weather station that does "LIGHT" in addition to temp and humidity. Is HOBO my only option, or are there others? Please let me know... Thanks...

Here is a link that might be useful: Weather Station maximizes tomato yield

That's the greenhouse and coincidentally I am moving and getting a real nice larger attached. This person selling it simply borrowed my photo which I could care less about.

I assumed my mother could have listed it, but again she said she was going to keep it.

Later, and still growing conifers strong!

Dax

For those of us a little 'low tech' there is product out called a 'sensaphone'. It will call me if the power goes out or if the temperatures are too low or too high. Or I can call it and get the temps of my gh from home. There are other sensors are available, like sound. It is really easy to operate.

>>Meanwhile, the wife has promised to hardwire a flashlight to the 110v house circuit, so we'll be able to watch the temperature all night. :-) (The LED flashlight that's out there right now won't make if for long. :-( I might try a plug-in automatic nightlite and an extension cord. Goes on at dark, off in the morning and its portable.

>I am looking for a weather station that does "LIGHT" in addition to temp and humidity. Is HOBO my only option...

Wow, a quick run-thru suggests the HOBO might run you a grand or more total. I think Davis Pro might have a light sensor (it does have a soil moisture sensor) but it is pricey too. I'm sure there are others, but they're probably going to be big bucks as well.

Laserfan,

It sounds like it's back to the http://www.nextag.com/la-crosse-ws_-_3510/search-html plan. I'll just have to leave the light meter out there, in the webcam picture.

Mdaughn,

It's certainly all very low tech; even the yardstick I stuck in the earthbox to measure the growth of the tomato... I suppose if I were a scientist or something I might even keep a daily log... but I'm not!!!

Bob,

I'll give that night light idea a try!

Nortonbk,

Be sure to document your microchip build with pictures! -)

John13,

I'll stick a ruler in one of the pepper plants for you later today when I get back home!

Mike...

I'm currently experimenting with a weather station in the Greenhouse... I posted the results on the GreenhouseCAM page... which is here: Greenhouse CAM

There's no light sensor, but I do have temp, humidity & pressure. I still have lots to learn.

Mike...

I'm confused as to why the picture doesn't change? It's been 12:53 for a very long time? We also have web cam setup but it's for security most of all. Can't post the link couse we own the nursery...

The webcam was working just fine on Friday. I suspect you might have a proxy server or a cache that is not refreshing. (I had that problem at work also with the proxy server.)

If you've already cleared your cache, and that didn't fix it, you might try using a different browser.

I re-arranged the greenhouse this weekend. We had some sunshine today, so I was able to tweak the exhaust fan thermostat. I also put a roof over the thermometer, and moved the light meter off to the side. I put a streamer next to the thermometer, which flutters around when the fan is on.

The plants are getting big fast! I had to build another earthbox today, to put my peppers into. You'll see that in the webcam. I added some shelves on the left hand side of the greenhouse, and transplanted a bunch of plants from their seedling trays into 4" pots.

I have more Polish Giant tomatoes than I know what to do with. Anyone in Michigan need some Polish Giants?

Mike...

P.S. The weather station gives me fits from time to time because it doesn't always update.

P.P.S. Here's the link again: Greenhouse Cam

I just re-arranged the greenhouse. There are now 2 earthboxes for tomatoes, and another 2 earthboxes for peppers. I had to get all the plants out of the seedling starter trays and into pots. I am quickly running out of room in the greenhouse.

I've also given up on the weather station for the moment, and have swapped out the thermometer for a good old fashioned thermometer.

I also plan on testing a 100 hour LED flashlight in there tonight.

Since you already have the URL to the greenhouse cam, here, instead, is a picture that I took today of the 4 earthboxes in there. See below.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:296501}}

I think the Greenhouse is nearing the end of it's usefullness this spring. In another couple weeks it'll be time to plant everything outside.

I'll leave the earthboxes inside the greenhouse to see how they compare to the outside fruit. Do you guys want me to leave the webcam on? I probably should move it so you can better see how the earthboxes are doing.

In fact, I think I'll go out now and start experimenting.

Mike...

Well, if you haven't seen em, it's too late. All the seedlings have been planted outside.

All that's left is the 4 earthboxes. I'll leave them in there this summer, just as an experiment. You can see the 4 earthboxes in my webcam now....

Do you know, you guys are not a very talkative bunch. Since I put the webcam up I've only got one email, and that, from a guy in Australia. What's the matter, cat got your tongue?

Mike...